Image/DR Restore Boot Disc cannot see USB hard drive or USB keyboard/mouse
NovaBACKUP
Last Updated: Dec 30, 2016 08:23AM PST
Image/DR Restore Boot Disc cannot see USB hard drive or USB keyboard/mouse.
If when booting to your Image / DR Restore Boot Disc media you do not see your external USB hard drive (# 1.) or you do not have access to your USB mouse (# 2.) or USB keyboard (# 3.) for navigating the DR Boot Disc user interface then follow this guide to resolve those issues. NOTE: The DR Boot Disc user interface requires a mouse to operate and it may not function with a wireless mouse, see topic # 3.
(# 1.) If after booting to the Image / DR Boot Disc media AND if your Image / Disaster Recovery image file (.NDF, .NDD or .NDI file extensions) that you are attempting to restore is located on a USB 3.0 hard drive and you are attempting to use a DR Boot Disc, without a USB 3.0 driver added to it specifically using the Advanced Boot Disc creation method, then the reason why you do not see your external hard drive, solely because it is connected to a USB 3.0 port. The DR Boot Disc may not have included the USB 3.0 chipset driver needed to see your USB 3.0 ports from the Windows PE based Operating System which the DR Boot Disc utilizes. The DR Boot Disc Operating System only contains a basic set of drivers and typically would not include a USB 3.0 chipset driver.
If this is the case that you are utilizing a USB 3.0 hard drive, or if you don't know if you are using a USB 3.0 hard drive or not, then you will need to now unplug the USB 3.0 hard drive from your USB 3.0 port (blue colored port, normally color coded that way to specify the USB 3.0 higher speed type port) andplug it in to the OLDER USB 2.0 port (black colored port, normally color coded that way to specify USB 2.0 lower speed type port). You will then restart the DR Boot Disc media to boot your computer from that DR Boot Disc media again to see if you can now see your external hard drive when connected to the older style USB 2.0 port (non USB 3.0 port).
(# 2.) If after booting to the DR Boot Disc media AND you do not have USB mouse functionality, in that the mouse is not operating, allowing to be moved on-screen, then it is most likely because the USB mouse is a wireless mouse and does not have a driver built in to the DR Boot Disc media to have the device driver for that wireless mouse to function when using the DR Boot Disc's Operating System. Just because your mouse works in Windows does not mean it will work from the special small operating system that the DR Boot Disc media utilizes (Windows PE OS containing a small amount of standard device drivers added to it including most USB 2.0 chipset and basic USB mouse/keyboard support).
If using a wireless mouse then you can attempt to connect a WIRED USB mouse to a USB 2.0 (non USB 3.0) or lesser port on the computer, typically in the rear of the computer. Because the DR Boot Disc probably will not have USB 3.0 drivers for the USB 3.0 chipset on your motherboard if you utilized Simple Boot Disc creation method to create that DR Boot Disc media, then you should attempt to plug in the WIRED USB mouse to a USB 2.0 (non USB 3.0) port.
(# 3.) If after booting to the DR Boot Disc media AND you do not have USB keyboard functionality, in that the keyboard is not operating, allowing to be moved on-screen, then it is most likely because the USB keyboard is a wireless keyboard and does not have a driver built in to the DR Boot Disc media to have the device driver for that wireless keyboard to function when using the DR Boot Disc's Operating System. Just because your keyboard works in Windows does not mean it will work from the special small operating system that the DR Boot Disc media utilizes (Windows PE OS containing a small amount of standard device drivers added to it including most USB 2.0 chipset and basic USB mouse/keyboard support).
If using a wireless keyboard then you can attempt to connect a WIRED USB keyboard to a USB 2.0 (non USB 3.0) or lesser port on the computer, typically in the rear of the computer. Because the DR Boot Disc probably will not have USB 3.0 drivers for the USB 3.0 chipset on your motherboard if you utilized Simple Boot Disc creation method to create that DR Boot Disc media, then you should attempt to plug in the WIRED USB keyboard to a USB 2.0 (non USB 3.0) port.